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Photographic observations of Jupiter and its Red Spot between Dec. 11, 1970, and Oct. 12, 1971, are reported. The Red Spot had a mean rotation period of 9 hr 55 min 38.5 sec, the shortest to be observed since the apparition of 1931-1932. The outstanding event of the apparition was an outburst of activity in the South Equatorial Belt which was similar in many ways to the great disturbance of 1928.
The paper presents cloud structure models for Jupiter's Great Red Spot, Equatorial and North Tropical Zones, North and South Temperate Zones, and North and South Polar Regions. The models are based on images of Jupiter in three methane bands and nearby continuum; radiative transfer calculations include multiple scattering and absorption from three aerosol layers. The model results include the transition in the upper-cloud altitude to 3 km lower altitude from the tropical zones to temperate zones and polar regions, a N/S asymmetry in cloud thickness in the tropical and temperature zones, and the presence of aerosols up to about 0.3 bar in the Great Red Spot and Equatorial Zone. It is concluded that polarization data are sensitive to aerosols in and above the upper cloud layer but insensitive to deeper cloud structure.
Observations of Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) span more than 150 years. This allows for careful measurements of its size and drift rate. High spatial resolution spacecraft data also allow tracking of its spectral characteristics and internal dynamics and structure. The GRS continues to shrink in longitudinal length at an approximately linear rate of 0 deg .194 yr(exp −1) and in latitudinal width at 0 deg .048 yr (exp −1). Its westward drift rate (relative to System III W. longitude) has increased from approx. 0 deg .26/day in the 1980s to approx. 0 deg .36/day currently. Since 2014, the GRS's short wavelength (less than 650 nm) reflectance has continued to decrease, while it has become brighter at 890 nm, indicating a change in clouds/haze at high altitudes. In addition, its north–south color asymmetry has decreased, and the dark core has become smaller. Internal velocities have increased on its east and west edges, and decreased on the north and south, resulting in decreased relative vorticity and circulation. The GRS's color changes from 2014 to 2017 may be explained by changes in stretching vorticity or divergence acting to balance the decrease in relative vorticity.
Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) was mapped by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)/Mid-Infrared Instrument (4.9–27.9 μm) in July and August 2022. These observations took place alongside a suite of visual and infrared observations from; Hubble, JWST/NIRCam, Very Large Telescope/VISIR and amateur observers which provided both spatial and temporal context across the jovian disc. The stratospheric temperature structure retrieved using the NEMESIS software revealed a series of hot-spots above the GRS. These could be the consequence of GRS-induced wave activity. In the troposphere, the temperature structure was used to derive the thermal wind structure of the GRS vortex. These winds were only consistent with the independently determined wind field by JWST/NIRCam at 240 mbar if the altitude of the Hubble-derived winds were located around 1,200 mbar, considerably deeper than previously assumed. No enhancement in ammonia was found within the GRS but a link between elevated aerosol and phosphine abundances was observed within this region. North-south asymmetries were observed in the retrieved temperature, ammonia, phosphine and aerosol structure, consistent with the GRS tilting in the north-south direction. Finally, a small storm was captured north-west of the GRS that displayed a considerable excess in retrieved phosphine abundance, suggestive of vigorous convection. Despite this, no ammonia ice was detected in this region. The novelty of JWST required us to develop custom-made software to resolve challenges in calibration of the data. This involved the derivation of the “FLT-5” wavelength calibration solution that has subsequently been integrated into the standard calibration pipeline.
The high altitude of Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) may enhance the upward flux of gaseous ammonia (NH3 ) into the high troposphere, where NH3 molecules can be photodissociated and initiate a chain of chemical reactions with downwelling acetylene molecules (C2H2 ). These reactions, experimentally studied earlier by (Ferris and Ishikawa [1987] Nature 326, 777-778) and (Ferris and Ishikawa [1988] J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 110, 4306-4312), produce chromophores that absorb in the visible and ultraviolet regions. In this work we photolyzed mixtures of NH3 and C2H2 using ultraviolet radiation with a wavelength of 214 nm and measured the spectral transmission of the deposited films in the visible region (400-740 nm). From these transmission data we estimated the imaginary indices of refraction. Assuming that ammonia grains at the top of the GRS clouds are coated with this material, we performed layered sphere and radiative transfer calculations to predict GRS reflection spectra. Comparison of those results with observed and previously unreported Cassini visible spectra and with true-color images of the GRS show that the unknown GRS chromophore is spectrally consistent with the coupled NH3-C2H2 photochemical products produced in our laboratory experiments. Using high-resolution mass spectrometry and infrared spectroscopy we infer that the chromophore-containing residue is composed of aliphatic azine, azo, and diazo compounds.
On the original Taylor column theory of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, the fixed latitude of the Spot is taken to imply that the Taylor column in Jupiter's atmosphere is associated with a disturbance such as a topographic feature of the surface Q underlying the atmosphere. The alternative suggestion that the Taylor column is produced by a solid raft floating at depth in the atmosphere is somewhat easier to reconcile with the approximately 10s difference between the respective rotation periods P sub S and P sub R of the Red Spot and of the radio sources, but it does not account so readily for the fixed latitude of the Spot unless it can be shown that the raft is in stable equilibrium under the north-south components of the dynamical forces, including wind effects, acting upon it. A slight wavering of the upper end of the Taylor column relative to the lower end could account at least in part for the most rapid variations in P sub S, but the slow large-amplitude variations in P sub S must reflect changes in the longitudinal motion of either the surface Q or of the raft. By generalizing the Proudman-Taylor theorem to the case of a non-homogeneous fluid it is shown that the Taylor column theory does not imply very special and therefore unlikely horizontal and vertical temperature variations in Jupiter's atmosphere, thus refuting a widely-held belief to the contrary.
Periodic oscillations in longitude of Great Red Spot in Jupiter atmosphere
Solar activity and great red spot of Jupiter by darkness parameter from 1891-1967
Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) is one of its most distinct and enduring features. Since the advent of modern telescopes, keen observers have noted its appearance and documented a change in shape from very oblong to oval, confirmed in measurements from spacecraft data. It currently spans the smallest latitude and longitude size ever recorded. Here we show that this change has been accompanied by an increase in cloud/haze reflectance as sensed in methane gas absorption bands, increased absorption at wavelengths shorter than 500 nanometers, and increased spectral slope between 500 and 630 nanometers. These changes occurred between 2012 and 2014, without a significant change in internal tangential wind speeds; the decreased size results in a 3.2 day horizontal cloud circulation period, shorter than previously observed. As the GRS has narrowed in latitude, it interacts less with the jets flanking its north and south edges, perhaps allowing for less cloud mixing and longer UV irradiation of cloud and aerosol particles. Given its long life and observational record, we expect that future modeling of the GRS's changes, in concert with laboratory flow experiments, will drive our understanding of vortex evolution and stability in a confined flow field crucial for comparison with other planetary atmospheres.
A simple hydrodynamic model yields steady-state solutions with many of the properties of the Great Red Spot and the neighboring belts and zones of Jupiter. No special forcing mechanism is necessary to maintain the circulation of the Spot. This is consistent with observations which indicate that the Great Red Spot and the zones have similar dynamic properties.
The paper presents observations of the morphology and rotation periods of four long-lived red spots in the equatorial region of Jupiter seen in 1974. Three of the spots were very small (less than 1 arcsec in diameter), but show on the best photographs obtained at the Mauna Kea Observatory station of the NASA-Lowell Planetary Patrol. The spots are not greatly distinguished from other Jovian features on the basis of their rotation or longitudinal drift. Their distinct red color is the main point of interest in light of current ideas as to the origin and nature of the Great Red Spot.
Photographic observations of Jupiter Red Spot /1966-1967/
Jupiter Red Spot and other photographic features in 1969-1970, noting 90-day oscillation in longitude and south tropical zone disturbance
Temperatures and thermal winds over the Great Red Spot (GRS) are derived from Voyager IRIS data for atmospheric pressures between 3 and 500 mbar. A cold tropopause implies a decrease in anticyclonic vorticity with height above 500 mbar through the lower stratosphere. Observations at 5 microns indicate that there is little emission from the GRS itself, although there is enhanced emission from a ring around it. The behavior of the tropopause and 5 micron temperatures are considered to be results of circulation which rises within the GRS and subsides in the area around it. Results are discussed in the context of several theoretical models of the GRS, and latent heat release as an energy source is considered. Dynamical scalings based on an axisymmetric frictionally controlled vortex indicate that the large-scale dynamics of the GRS are linear, as opposed to those of a tropical cyclone which are nonlinear.
Surface and atmospheric features of jupiter related to jovian red spot movement
The turbulent flow at the periphery of the Great Red Spot (GRS) contains many fine-scale filamentary structures, while the more quiescent core, bounded by a narrow high- velocity ring, exhibits organized, possibly counterrotating, motion. Past studies have neither been able to capture this complexity nor adequately study the effect of vertical stratification L(sub R)(zeta) on the GRS. We present results from a series of high-resolution, three-dimensional simulations that advect the dynamical tracer, potential vorticity. The detailed flow is successfully captured with a characteristic value of L(sub R) approx. equals 2000 km, independent of the precise vertical stratification profile.